Android users can now track their health with the Jawbone Up

Now iOS users aren't the only ones who can track steps in a day or hours of sleep.

iOS users are no longer the only ones who can keep track of how many hours they sleep a night or steps they walk in a day. The Jawbone Up, a $129 fitness-tracking wristband, is now compatible with Android smartphones. The application is available in the Google Play store, and it works with versions of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and up.

The Jawbone UP features a built-in accelerometer that measures and reports daily fitness activity, including how much you move throughout the day. The app allows you to track what you eat and how much you sleep; you can then share your progress with your friends on Facebook. You can also set an alert that vibrates the band when you've been sitting idly for too long.

Fitness-obsessed Android users will have a bit of a choice this spring season when it comes to fitness gadgets. Samsung last week announced its S Health application and S Band wristband, while gadgets like the FitBit and apps like Nike+ Running are already compatible with Android smartphones.

Despite its move into Android, users of other OSes will have to wait. Jawbone has said that it has no current plans to bring Up compatibility to either BlackBerry 10 or Windows Phones in the near future.

Florence Ion
Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.

Abridge - they seem to have fixed the design and manufacturing issues that messed up the first version. my other half got one a month ago, and no issues.fung81 - As funny as it sounds, they carry them in apple stores. You can go there and get one for your Android.

Fitbit Flex please! No interest in Jawbone's epic fail. They released a broken product the first time around and ignored the largest mobile OS in the world for a couple of years. I don't think I need to say where they can shove their UP...

I also want to know. Is this device more like a cheap(ish) actigraph (that contains an accelerometer) or just an accelerometer with wireless connectivity? I'm interested in monitoring my sleep cycle but can't afford a laboratory sleep study.

I also want to know. Is this device more like a cheap(ish) actigraph (that contains an accelerometer) or just an accelerometer with wireless connectivity? I'm interested in monitoring my sleep cycle but can't afford a laboratory sleep study.

I could be wrong, but It looks like it doesn't take any sort of vitals -- not even heart rate, which would be far easier than oxygen levels in the blood or anything like that. As far as I can tell, it's just an accelerometer.

Regarding having your sleep analyzed, you could have someone watch you sleep and see if you are having any kind of apnea. While it's not exactly scientific, having a friend just observe you breath during a nap would give you a good idea of whether or not you needed to have a sleep study done.

And if you just want to see how your sleep cycles go, SleepAsAndroid or SleepAsIphone (or whatever the iphone one is called) will offer the accelerometer functions and actually does a pretty good job analyzing what you can with just an accelerometer.

I currently use a Fitbit, that I got primarily to monitor my sleep. Unfortunately, it doesn't go into the level of detail I need (I have severe sleep apnoea and severe Restless Legs Syndrome - I want to be able to separate which condition is causing which symptom).

The Fitbit is also pretty average in telling me how long I slept and when I was awake - it underestimates the time that I am awake during the night. I don't think there's any way to get past this short of purchasing one of the professional sleep monitoring machines (I asked my sleep doctor, they're around $11,000).